UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for covid-19, according to a new video tweeted out by Johnson himself. Johnson assured citizens of Britain that he’s fully capable of leading the country from self-isolation, all thanks to modern technology.
“I’ve developed mild symptoms of the coronavirus—that’s to say a temperature and a persistent cough,” Johnson says in the new video posted Friday morning. “And on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, I have taken a test that has come out positive.”
“I am working from home, I’m self-isolating and that’s entirely the right thing to do. But, be in no doubt, that I can continue thanks to the wizardy of modern technology.”
Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus.
I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus.
Together we will beat this. #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/9Te6aFP0Ri
— Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) March 27, 2020
The UK started the month of March with a controversial plan to just allow the new coronavirus to infect the entire population of Britain, but that plan was abandoned after the government discovered it would lead to literally hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Johnson announced a national lockdown on Monday night in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, something that public health experts say takes a couple of weeks to become effective.
“You should not be meeting friends. If your friends ask you to meet, you should say no. You should not be meeting family members who do not live in your home. You should not be going shopping except for essentials like food and medicine – and you should do this as little as you can,” Johnson said in a nationally televised address on Monday.
Johnson thanked the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) for all of their incredible work during this fast-moving pandemic. There are currently at least 11,816 confirmed cases of the virus in Britain, with 580 deaths.
“I want to thank everybody who’s working to keep our country going during this epidemic. And we will get through it, and the way we’re gonna get through it is, of course, by applying the measures you have heard so much about,” Johnson said during this morning’s Twitter video.
“Stay at home, protect the NHS, and save lives.”